There are a lot of “expert” explanations why Suzuki left the US market in 2012, no one seems to want to address the real issue. Having been in the 4WD sport since the mid 60’s and the business since the early 70’s I can attest to the fact that the little Suzuki 4WD’s sold really well. People say their sales were down here and they were but that was not the reason for us not seeing them anymore. The big blow was the (Nader inspired) roll over hatchet job in the 90’s. Even though most people knew that the Ford Explorer had the highest percentage auto roll over rate it still hurt them big time. By late 2011 they had endured as much BS out of the DC administration and packed up and left. Their vehicles were/are small but people didn’t buy them to haul around the family of 6 and tow the 28’ RV. I still see some of their newer cars/SUV’s that roll through via Canada and they’re great for what there’re designed to do. The one car we never got in the states was the long wheelbase station wagon Samurai. I regret selling that about as much as a couple of 60’s muscle cars I had in the 70’s and early 80’s.
Actually the first best thing is to remove the factory front sway bar or make it so you can quickly disconnect the Link's! Makes a huge improvement in articulation. And another massive thing just about everyone in my 30+ years of running around Sammy's is to just jack them up and check the suspension pieces in the spring mountings! The shackels\leaf spring mounts etc for being over tightened up and binding! And then while you have it jacked up oil\lubricate in between the leaf springs\mounts bolts etc. And the Ride after a good oiling is amazing! I have seen amazing results from this as well as the customer's I have done this for.
I can think of about a dozen other things it would blow before blowing anyone's mind LoL Friend of mine used to have one of these and he scrapped it after the frame snapped in half. I think they are cool little 4x4's but like all other cheap foreign cars they leave a lot to be desired in the longevity and reliability departments.
@Mr Fingers Yeah I agree, I've considered buying a couple different ones just because they are so affordable. And one things for sure, a Samurai is a hell of a lot tougher than a North Korean military truck. Did you see the soldier that escaped from North Korea in a stolen army truck? He hit a curb that was only a few inches tall and it utterly destroyed the front end. It looked like the tie rods and axle must have been made of glass.
This is a lot of discussion... I'm pretty sure Mr Fingers just meant to weld the diffs. The locking hubs mean you can get away driving it in 2wd on the street. Heck, welding only the front diff means you can drive it daily as normal and get just about thru anything off road.
Good video but not a real life test. I own an 1986 Suzuki Samurai and it outperforms all terrain vehicles. I have never gotten stuck, I can go up hills with ease on gravel, dirt, mud, or snow. No problems whatsoever. Extremely capable offroad machines. The Jeeps go and hide when they see me coming!
Those little things went anywhere. A friend had one back in the early '90s here in Hawaii. Uncomfortable as hell when 4 wheeling unless you stood up in the back or on the rear bumper. Super easy to do repairs. They were also popular rentals in the '80s and '90s. We would take it from sea level to 13,700+ feet no problem.
Guy Proulx what a Hammer head response that is! Don't want it back because it was unfairly treated? Wow the earth would be empty if everything stayed away from being treated unfairly!
Once the wheels are spinning fast eventually the rollers start to slightly bind relative to wheel speed which would almost be like having traction. That's when the truck starts moving forward on the rollers
Honestly, the little (Nathan Approved) Sammy is one tough 4X4. If this were off-road, you could work the terrain and rock the vehicle to get all the traction that you need. Great Video! And... Happy Thanksgiving.
@@0xsergy if the sway bar is removed for off-road and the leaf springs are probably lubricated and a decent set of does tech Shock's are used as well as proper tire pressure they actually don't ride bad at all! But what do you expect from a 1980s car for under $10k? The seats are made of vynal so they can be washed out with a hose!
You guys oughta test out a Sidekick, Tracker, or Vitara one of these days! It’s a little bigger than the Samurai, but that size comes with a bigger engine as well. Coil spring on all 4 corners too, though they have independent front ends instead of being solid on both ends.
@CorwinINaDSM How would traction control help in this situation? TC is just a crutch for people that don't have any throttle control skills. Literally all it does is let off the gas for you when it senses wheel speed is increasing too rapidly. Any good driver should be able to do the same but much faster, the delay on every TC system I've seen is atrocious.
Impact's Garage and Gaming Traction Control not only decreases engine power, but also brakes the spinning wheel(s). If one tire is spinning and Traction Control applies brake pressure to it, it helps to transfer power to the wheel with traction. Edit: forgot to mention that you're completely right about TC's delay. 99% of the time you can regain control before the car even realizes what's happening lol.
I agree. I clicked on it not knowing what to expect, and at first I was like "well duh it's going to do that", but then I remembered not everyone has as good of an understanding of the way all these systems work like I do, but he did a very good job explaining how and why.
Hello, and thank you for the test. I don't know what you ment as brake trick for a car with open differentials. Applying brake will take the same ammount of torque from both sides if brakes are good, so does close to nothing. This "trick" works with Torsen, Torsen-2 and the kinds of differentials, which will send a multiply of torque from the spinning wheel to the grabbing wheel. So if the ratio is e.g. 4:1, and you apply the brake with say 100Nm, then you take this 100Nm from the spinning one, but sending 400to the grabbing one, so achieving 400-100=300Nm of traction on the grabbing one. The "trick" which might help with open differential is the following: Open diffs send equal torque to both wheels, so if no traction on one wheel, no torque on the other (only a little, by internal friction). But torque is required to spin up the spinning wheel (dynamic situation, rotational momentum). So if you try to increase the spinning wheel's rpm as quick as you can, during this period, the more torque will be seen by the grabbing wheel. So spinning the wheel from zero up to as high and as quick as possible, will send a certain amount of torque to the grabbing wheel and might unstuck the vehicle. (Sorry for possible terminoligy mistakes, I'm not a native speaker.)
The old left foot braking trick doesn't really do much without an LSD unfortunately. off roaders use it to force the good traction wheel to slow down and regain static grip on the good side but thats really more about managing wheelspin vs moving torque around. It worked so great on the hummer because the torsen LSD's had a super high bias ratio ~4:1 so X amount of force applied to both brakes produces 4X-X = 3 to the other wheel. With an open diff the equation is X - X = 0. You know what I would love to see Tommy? I would love to see the sami with both front wheels on the rollers compared to a crossover with the same setup, ideally one where you could press a "lock" button. And do it on the hill, I think it will be very telling.
@fukthegoog I'm more interested in how it looks doing it and with what kind of effort really. mainly i want to know what kind of delay there is and what kind of struggle it is.
This is the first time I read something true about differential on some offroad channel. Maybe the brake trick could help if front wheels are spinning with an open center-diff transmission (braking torque is higher at the front)
@@supersami7748 left foot braking can help, but it does so by managing wheelspin only, not by moving power around like a brake based traction control. the difference between dynamic grip and static grip is what makes it work. i.e. you have more traction with a non-spinning tire on a surface over a spinning one. on a surface where the good tire has essentially unlimited traction potential and the bad tire has essentially no traction potential the only benefit you might is from the small inertia change of the tire and axle shaft slowing down.
I own a 1988 samurai JX with 10 inches of lift and 33/15.50/15's on it with all stock motor and trans/ t- case except for gasket matching the top end some mild porting and a aftermarket carb and even with the full open difs front and rear will outdo full size 4X4 's all day long. If you are a experienced driver it makes little difference to performance.
Well done the zook! Basically with these, you look at an obstacle. if it looks impossible, let a bit more air out of the tires and have a go anyway, it'll probably do it because amazing people is what they do. One thing that irked me, you said you like the manual box because it lets you apply more controlled power and lets you pop the clutch to power out of obstacles. You can do this with an automatic, just use both feet. Load up the brake and bring the revs up. Release the brake and hold on. You might need to do this in an auto if you need to spin your tires to clear the lugs of mud, or to power over something like a rock step or a log without a decent run up. I was all about manual gearboxes until I started offroading. Give me an automatic any day. While you can't pop a clutch to get rapid torque, you will never get caught in the wrong gear in an auto and lose momentum from engaging the clutch to change gears. If truth be told my mechanical friends would be disgusted how much I used to ride the clutch offroad. No need for that with the automatics. edit: if you wanted a rear locker for that thing you'd have no trouble finding one. A few hundred bucks and a long afternoon and you're good to make mincemeat of that last test.
And get some real tires on it. A set of 235-75-15 BFG AT Tires or up to a 30"-9.5-15 will clear perfectly and not rub anywhere and with 15psi in the front and 12psi in the rear you would be amazed at how much you can do in that Sammy!
a few years ago i bought a suzuki vitara jx 2 door soft top for a work buggy paid $1100.00 for it .... the only thing that’s really different to me is the body .... had a bad bearing in the transmission ... had a hard time locating a new one so we stripped a sammy transmission and it was a match .... roughly 3 years later runs great 4wd works every time
I've owned 3 Jeeps and 3 Samurais. Every single one of my Jeeps has gotten stuck at least once. Not one of my Samurais was ever stuck.....ever. whether going through sand, snow, mud or gravel those things were astounding!!! I wish I never sold my last one. 😔
I have a trail worn Sidekick, not much different than the Sammy, and I can confirm part time works well, but needs a rear locker at least. A future upgrade I think.
Nice tho one thing you didnt need to do was move the transfer case gearing into 2H as that is for driving the front wheels when the hubs are locked in. Leaving it in neutral would have been better since it was effectivly doing nothing untill you locked in the hubs.
For old 4wd with both side parking brake...mod the cable to 2 separate part where we can pull each side of drum brake that spining...so u can get traction on the other side...
You could do this, or just convert it to a "tractor brake" or "turning brake" style like the rail buggy's use where you you have 2 levers plumbed into the rear brake lines, left lever locks up left rear caliper, right lever locks up right rear caliper. Same thing, but with more stopping power. Not really a popular 4x4 setup though, because lockers or lsd's are usually readily available for pretty much every popular 4x4 vehicle. The reason they're popular on rail buggies is lockers/lsd's are not available for those since they were never designed to be offroad vehicles, so people had to find a work around for them.
The little Sami that could. Great vehicle to demonstrates to the kiddies that the old school technology is no BS. A great vehicle to add to our old-school arsenal is 1998 Civic Hatchback with some new Pro-Kit and shocks. With oversized tire profile (to put back the ground clearance) and given 2400lb weight with a 103-inch wheelbase, it'll be quite good both on and off road. No other front drive in existence would be able to beat that setup when going off-road.
The Suzuki is what it is, a no frills 4WD jeep. Its not complicated, it doesn’t have any modern goodies, but its small size, light weight, and traditional 4x4 system make it a large Mars Rover. But on road??? Two thumbs down. Unless you’re into the novelty of it.
Stock, they just don't have the power for hi speed highway driving. Its the only vehicle I've driven that I've gotten honked at for not driving fast enough. And I had it floored. Around town or offroad, just fine.
Toyota needs to bring over, to the US, some of their more base models. Such as what is sold over in Australia. They would sell well here to everyone that is tired of the plushed out offerings now.
If it's a 3/4 ton then it probably has a factory locker in the rear if it's a 1/2 ton then there is a good chance it has g80 code limited slip so you would do just fine if any of the above is true.
@@BYLRPhil It's a mechanical locker so no switch or lever👍, they use a Detroit locker, it engages when the rear slips. I have a 87 3/4ton on 33" Mudd terrains and it does great in deep mud and snow. I've even done a couple of rock trails and was impressed although 33" is to small for any serious rocks. The common axles was a 14 bolt rear with Detroit locker, and open Dana 44 front, 410 gears ,turbo 400 trans and 208 transfer case. Perfect family 4x4.
14 personality entertainment huh, I’ll have to crawl under there and see if I can find some codes and confirm this. I sure hope so! I’ve got a 350 with the 3 speed auto, Warn manual lockers up front. Who knows what all has been done to it over the years.
@@BYLRPhil There should be a white label on the glovebox door or in the center console it will have a bunch of codes on it , look for the code G80. I think I gave the wrong info it's an eaton locker and not Detroit but just can't remember for sure. If all else fails you can pull the diff cover and have a looksy. Also there are two #'s on the edge of the ring gear that will give you the gear ratio.
General comment on slip test... I have a 4Runner limited, which is quite a bit different than all the other 4Runner models because it has a center diff and full time all wheel drive. It’s actually like the most mysterious AWD system out there! No one talks about it! When everyone reviews the 4Runner, they do locked diff, off road tests. I’m really curious about what this AWD system is actually doing ON ROAD in daily (winter snow/ice) driving. I know it’s a beast in the winter, but I think it would be neat to see the mighty 4Runner on your slip test, and other trucks/(real) SUVs for that matter. Toyota’s other cars don’t have a great AWD system. Does the 4Runner break the mould?
Please spend a little money on a small lift/suspension upgrade and some decent tyres. It doesn’t take much. The Zuk’s are great fun off road, looking forward to some adventures on the trails.
use handbrake if the front is stuck so u can transfer power from back wheels to front, use the brake if the rear is stuck to transfer power to rear wheels
Except this is a 4x4 vehicle not an AWD vehicle, so it doesn't have the ability to bias power differently from front to rear. Front and rear are locked together and turn the same rate, so stopping rear wheels will also stop front wheels, and vice versa...
That would be fun to try my factory stock 2001 Jeep XJ Sport with the Dana 35 "Track-loc" rear axle ( factory option LSD with factory clutch pack) and see how it holds up.
Is TFLoffroad going to do a review on some of the lesser known UTV’s, like the ODES ravager, or the Intimidator? And how they compare to the likes of the Can-am
I know this video is a few years old now, but are you able to find out what brand the front grill guard is from? I just got a Jimny, and would love to have something like that installed on mine.
It would be great if you would install lockers on the front and rear and then show what its truly capable of. Yes, the lockers might cost more than Suzi but who cares, all we care about is how awesome it is off road. Oh, you may as well put on a proper set of high quality off road tires if you really are going to test it off road, otherwise why bother. (Its a used vehicle so replacing the tires is completely fair because that is what we would do anyway.)
I agree, putting money into these Suzukis is totally worth it. For 5 grand, you could end up with an awesome trail rig that will fit on side by side trails. $2500 truck + 2 auto lockers self installed $600 + lift and shocks $600 + 31" tires and wheels $1000 + winch and winch bumper $500 =$5200 ball park maybe even less. Try to match the performance and road + trail ability any other way. You can't.
@@wvjon75 I agree, I think that it would embarrass just about anything else offload (except for a side by side, but the side by sides aren't street legal and are not good in bad weather or the winter so the Suzi would be the ultimate year-round off roader).
I have the same problem with my samurai and open diffs. The left foot braking or hand brake trick will not work in situations like that. I think the brakes are just too weak.
@@wildbill23c yes I realize if you had both rear wheels on the rollers with limited slip it would not go anywhere. I was curious how much better it would do or wouldn't do if you had one of the front wheels on rollers and one of the rear wheels on rollers. Also if it would do any better on the other roller tests they have done on the other vehicles.
When the hub is unlocked, the wheel can spin freely on the axle. When it is locked the front hubs connect to the front differential. Many 4x4s don't have this feature and the hubs are always locked in. The benefit of being able to unlock them means that the front axle and driveshaft are not constantly turning with the front wheels when in 2WD.
That is a cool little machine. Now it wouldnt be WORTH it, but in a fantasy world, one could add as locker to the back xD Mind you it would be worth more than the cost of the vehicle to do so, and may not even be feasible, but can you guys imagine? As for the new Jimny, if they brought it to north america and added a rear locker, I would buy one in a second.
Note to Suzuki: PLEASE BRING THE JIMNY TO THE US AS THE NEW SAMURAI! WE MISS IT!
I'd love to have an old Samurai, they are still cool to me.
I would buy a new jimny yesterday if I could.
I just sold a Suzuki X-90 for $200, running. Feels bad man. Worst mistake ever. Never heard of that model? It's worth looking it up.
@@johncampbell335 you know what, I did a small search for an X90, and couldn't find any. Might have to look some more.
There are a lot of “expert” explanations why Suzuki left the US market in 2012, no one seems to want to address the real issue. Having been in the 4WD sport since the mid 60’s and the business since the early 70’s I can attest to the fact that the little Suzuki 4WD’s sold really well. People say their sales were down here and they were but that was not the reason for us not seeing them anymore. The big blow was the (Nader inspired) roll over hatchet job in the 90’s. Even though most people knew that the Ford Explorer had the highest percentage auto roll over rate it still hurt them big time. By late 2011 they had endured as much BS out of the DC administration and packed up and left. Their vehicles were/are small but people didn’t buy them to haul around the family of 6 and tow the 28’ RV. I still see some of their newer cars/SUV’s that roll through via Canada and they’re great for what there’re designed to do. The one car we never got in the states was the long wheelbase station wagon Samurai. I regret selling that about as much as a couple of 60’s muscle cars I had in the 70’s and early 80’s.
@@19chucki74 They only made a few thousand [12,000 worldwide, or something silly like that], super rare.
A few mins with a welder and that little truck would blow your mind.
Actually the first best thing is to remove the factory front sway bar or make it so you can quickly disconnect the Link's! Makes a huge improvement in articulation. And another massive thing just about everyone in my 30+ years of running around Sammy's is to just jack them up and check the suspension pieces in the spring mountings! The shackels\leaf spring mounts etc for being over tightened up and binding! And then while you have it jacked up oil\lubricate in between the leaf springs\mounts bolts etc. And the Ride after a good oiling is amazing! I have seen amazing results from this as well as the customer's I have done this for.
I can think of about a dozen other things it would blow before blowing anyone's mind LoL Friend of mine used to have one of these and he scrapped it after the frame snapped in half. I think they are cool little 4x4's but like all other cheap foreign cars they leave a lot to be desired in the longevity and reliability departments.
@@Impactjunky I know it's not a top quality vehicle but for a cheap little truck they are pretty good.
@Mr Fingers Yeah I agree, I've considered buying a couple different ones just because they are so affordable. And one things for sure, a Samurai is a hell of a lot tougher than a North Korean military truck. Did you see the soldier that escaped from North Korea in a stolen army truck? He hit a curb that was only a few inches tall and it utterly destroyed the front end. It looked like the tie rods and axle must have been made of glass.
This is a lot of discussion... I'm pretty sure Mr Fingers just meant to weld the diffs. The locking hubs mean you can get away driving it in 2wd on the street.
Heck, welding only the front diff means you can drive it daily as normal and get just about thru anything off road.
Good video but not a real life test. I own an 1986 Suzuki Samurai and it outperforms all terrain vehicles. I have never gotten stuck, I can go up hills with ease on gravel, dirt, mud, or snow. No problems whatsoever. Extremely capable offroad machines. The Jeeps go and hide when they see me coming!
I own a Zuki on 31" atv tires and ride some very aggressive back trails , I can follow any utv and usually in the lead .
Those little things went anywhere. A friend had one back in the early '90s here in Hawaii. Uncomfortable as hell when 4 wheeling unless you stood up in the back or on the rear bumper. Super easy to do repairs. They were also popular rentals in the '80s and '90s. We would take it from sea level to 13,700+ feet no problem.
Such a cool little 4x4...wish they would bring the new Jimny to North America.
Guy Proulx what a Hammer head response that is! Don't want it back because it was unfairly treated? Wow the earth would be empty if everything stayed away from being treated unfairly!
The camera angle at 8:00 makes him look about 10'6" tall
It does make him look 10' tall
Once the wheels are spinning fast eventually the rollers start to slightly bind relative to wheel speed which would almost be like having traction. That's when the truck starts moving forward on the rollers
Honestly, the little (Nathan Approved) Sammy is one tough 4X4. If this were off-road, you could work the terrain and rock the vehicle to get all the traction that you need. Great Video!
And... Happy Thanksgiving.
I'm patiently waiting for you guys to take the samurai on the dirt. Run every trail you can with it!
Exactly what I am waiting for too.
those things kinda suck offroad man, i love em but man is that suspension stiff and bouncy, throws you around a lot lolo.
@@0xsergy + that's a very true statement. My middle age butt couldn't stand it. Maybe they'll send Tommy out there!
@@0xsergy if the sway bar is removed for off-road and the leaf springs are probably lubricated and a decent set of does tech Shock's are used as well as proper tire pressure they actually don't ride bad at all! But what do you expect from a 1980s car for under $10k? The seats are made of vynal so they can be washed out with a hose!
Two Detroit truetrac diffs and that little samurai will be the ultimate off road toy.
Or a little welding.
Lockers are much better than trutracs.
JP Onefourseven that’s true, I’ve had both and will never get another tru trac.
1 of the most capable off roading vehicles.
You guys oughta test out a Sidekick, Tracker, or Vitara one of these days! It’s a little bigger than the Samurai, but that size comes with a bigger engine as well. Coil spring on all 4 corners too, though they have independent front ends instead of being solid on both ends.
Great video showing why traction control and locking diff's make a world of difference.
@CorwinINaDSM How would traction control help in this situation? TC is just a crutch for people that don't have any throttle control skills. Literally all it does is let off the gas for you when it senses wheel speed is increasing too rapidly. Any good driver should be able to do the same but much faster, the delay on every TC system I've seen is atrocious.
Impact's Garage and Gaming Traction Control not only decreases engine power, but also brakes the spinning wheel(s). If one tire is spinning and Traction Control applies brake pressure to it, it helps to transfer power to the wheel with traction.
Edit: forgot to mention that you're completely right about TC's delay. 99% of the time you can regain control before the car even realizes what's happening lol.
Love these roller slip tests. Can help to illustrate the difference powertrains and their strengths and weaknesses. Keep them coming!
I agree. I clicked on it not knowing what to expect, and at first I was like "well duh it's going to do that", but then I remembered not everyone has as good of an understanding of the way all these systems work like I do, but he did a very good job explaining how and why.
Hello, and thank you for the test. I don't know what you ment as brake trick for a car with open differentials. Applying brake will take the same ammount of torque from both sides if brakes are good, so does close to nothing. This "trick" works with Torsen, Torsen-2 and the kinds of differentials, which will send a multiply of torque from the spinning wheel to the grabbing wheel. So if the ratio is e.g. 4:1, and you apply the brake with say 100Nm, then you take this 100Nm from the spinning one, but sending 400to the grabbing one, so achieving 400-100=300Nm of traction on the grabbing one.
The "trick" which might help with open differential is the following: Open diffs send equal torque to both wheels, so if no traction on one wheel, no torque on the other (only a little, by internal friction). But torque is required to spin up the spinning wheel (dynamic situation, rotational momentum). So if you try to increase the spinning wheel's rpm as quick as you can, during this period, the more torque will be seen by the grabbing wheel. So spinning the wheel from zero up to as high and as quick as possible, will send a certain amount of torque to the grabbing wheel and might unstuck the vehicle. (Sorry for possible terminoligy mistakes, I'm not a native speaker.)
The old left foot braking trick doesn't really do much without an LSD unfortunately. off roaders use it to force the good traction wheel to slow down and regain static grip on the good side but thats really more about managing wheelspin vs moving torque around. It worked so great on the hummer because the torsen LSD's had a super high bias ratio ~4:1 so X amount of force applied to both brakes produces 4X-X = 3 to the other wheel. With an open diff the equation is X - X = 0. You know what I would love to see Tommy? I would love to see the sami with both front wheels on the rollers compared to a crossover with the same setup, ideally one where you could press a "lock" button. And do it on the hill, I think it will be very telling.
@fukthegoog I'm more interested in how it looks doing it and with what kind of effort really. mainly i want to know what kind of delay there is and what kind of struggle it is.
This is the first time I read something true about differential on some offroad channel. Maybe the brake trick could help if front wheels are spinning with an open center-diff transmission (braking torque is higher at the front)
The brake trick actually does work very well, if you have an AT.
@@supersami7748 left foot braking can help, but it does so by managing wheelspin only, not by moving power around like a brake based traction control. the difference between dynamic grip and static grip is what makes it work. i.e. you have more traction with a non-spinning tire on a surface over a spinning one. on a surface where the good tire has essentially unlimited traction potential and the bad tire has essentially no traction potential the only benefit you might is from the small inertia change of the tire and axle shaft slowing down.
3rd generation 2wd has an "auto LSD" it applies the break to the spinning wheel..
I bet that samurai is more reliable than the new products fca is selling for $50k.
I own a 1988 samurai JX with 10 inches of lift and 33/15.50/15's on it with all stock motor and trans/ t- case except for gasket matching the top end some mild porting and a aftermarket carb and even with the full open difs front and rear will outdo full size 4X4 's all day long. If you are a experienced driver it makes little difference to performance.
Wish Suzuki would come back. The new Jimny might even pass crash tests, and some of the cars like the Kizashi and SX4 were remarkably good values.
simple is BETTER !
great little test for a little vehicle. put a lunchbox locker in the rear of that thing and you will have a completely different animal.
Well done the zook! Basically with these, you look at an obstacle. if it looks impossible, let a bit more air out of the tires and have a go anyway, it'll probably do it because amazing people is what they do.
One thing that irked me, you said you like the manual box because it lets you apply more controlled power and lets you pop the clutch to power out of obstacles. You can do this with an automatic, just use both feet. Load up the brake and bring the revs up. Release the brake and hold on. You might need to do this in an auto if you need to spin your tires to clear the lugs of mud, or to power over something like a rock step or a log without a decent run up.
I was all about manual gearboxes until I started offroading. Give me an automatic any day. While you can't pop a clutch to get rapid torque, you will never get caught in the wrong gear in an auto and lose momentum from engaging the clutch to change gears. If truth be told my mechanical friends would be disgusted how much I used to ride the clutch offroad. No need for that with the automatics.
edit: if you wanted a rear locker for that thing you'd have no trouble finding one. A few hundred bucks and a long afternoon and you're good to make mincemeat of that last test.
HAPPY TURKEY DAY TFL. Can’t wait to see the Samurai on a true off-road trail. Gold Mine Hill maybe. Light weight is key.
Justin Time More interested seeing Sammy try GMH than some mega buck off-roader if I'm honest
And get some real tires on it. A set of 235-75-15 BFG AT Tires or up to a 30"-9.5-15 will clear perfectly and not rub anywhere and with 15psi in the front and 12psi in the rear you would be amazed at how much you can do in that Sammy!
For the Same/Gypsy fans.. Sammy likes to play in the mud.
ua-cam.com/video/mpmvOpBtiw0/v-deo.html
That little 4 x 4 is perfect for Oregon words, a couple of mods on lockers will put a lot of 4 x 4 is a shame
I know you want to keep it stock but honestly the lockers for those things are on the cheaper side. Put some on and nothing will stop you
Samurais are one of my favorite. Looking into getting an imported Jimney soon
Damn, these Samurai videos makes me remember my '92 Vitara, I wish I still had it...
a few years ago i bought a suzuki vitara jx 2 door soft top for a work buggy paid $1100.00 for it .... the only thing that’s really different to me is the body .... had a bad bearing in the transmission ... had a hard time locating a new one so we stripped a sammy transmission and it was a match .... roughly 3 years later runs great 4wd works every time
I wanted to give this video a thumbs up but it has 420 and I don't want to ruin that.
Over all Sammy did good if he had some lockers he be almost unstoppable .
I've owned 3 Jeeps and 3 Samurais. Every single one of my Jeeps has gotten stuck at least once. Not one of my Samurais was ever stuck.....ever. whether going through sand, snow, mud or gravel those things were astounding!!! I wish I never sold my last one. 😔
Me too,...I'm waiting to see the Samurai on the trail's.
I have a trail worn Sidekick, not much different than the Sammy, and I can confirm part time works well, but needs a rear locker at least. A future upgrade I think.
It reminds me of the Topgear police car episode "Ladies and gentlemen, officer Barbie has arrived." LOL
Tell Suzuki to bring the Samurai (Jimny) back to the USA
I like the test! I love Suzuki” but kinda unfair because it is 1980’s technology?? I don’t understand the point. But I love your show
Nice tho one thing you didnt need to do was move the transfer case gearing into 2H as that is for driving the front wheels when the hubs are locked in. Leaving it in neutral would have been better since it was effectivly doing nothing untill you locked in the hubs.
I wish they bring the Jimny to the US as well it would sell like hot cakes ! I would buy one for sure!
needs tire chains :) Just kidding. too bad we cant get the new jimny those look awesome and every bit as capable as the old ones
This is great! Just what I wanted to see, now try one with a limited slip diff.
In cold weather my MGB had visco-limited-slip. Nice for 'power slides'.
For old 4wd with both side parking brake...mod the cable to 2 separate part where we can pull each side of drum brake that spining...so u can get traction on the other side...
You could do this, or just convert it to a "tractor brake" or "turning brake" style like the rail buggy's use where you you have 2 levers plumbed into the rear brake lines, left lever locks up left rear caliper, right lever locks up right rear caliper. Same thing, but with more stopping power. Not really a popular 4x4 setup though, because lockers or lsd's are usually readily available for pretty much every popular 4x4 vehicle. The reason they're popular on rail buggies is lockers/lsd's are not available for those since they were never designed to be offroad vehicles, so people had to find a work around for them.
Really looking forward to you guys taking this off road.
Comparison test idea:. Samurai vs. Roxor
whatever camera your using to film the tires is excellent. very vibrant
In later models (like my dads 92 Samurai) the front hubs are automaticaly lock when you put it in 4WD.
The little Sami that could. Great vehicle to demonstrates to the kiddies that the old school technology is no BS.
A great vehicle to add to our old-school arsenal is 1998 Civic Hatchback with some new Pro-Kit and shocks. With oversized tire profile (to put back the ground clearance) and given 2400lb weight with a 103-inch wheelbase, it'll be quite good both on and off road. No other front drive in existence would be able to beat that setup when going off-road.
This car has a traditional 4wd with a transfer case so it means it acts like a awd with a locked center diff
i guess its ok for you to believe that
@@philtripe it s the true u can check that on any website
The Suzuki is what it is, a no frills 4WD jeep. Its not complicated, it doesn’t have any modern goodies, but its small size, light weight, and traditional 4x4 system make it a large Mars Rover. But on road??? Two thumbs down. Unless you’re into the novelty of it.
Off road the small size and light weight made them unstoppable. Of course a terrible hwy car, but that’s not what it’s meant for.
Stock, they just don't have the power for hi speed highway driving. Its the only vehicle I've driven that I've gotten honked at for not driving fast enough. And I had it floored. Around town or offroad, just fine.
Tommy I have a suggestion throw in a front and rear locker ,then this thing can gone to Moab and dominate
Hi very comprehensive test..great. Can you please do these tests on the new Suzuki Jimny too.
I just got blasted with the Conflict Nerd intro
Track IDs? Sounds a bit like the sound track from the movie Driver.
I want to see more. Take it on the trails. Nice video!
Thank you! For 4K
The suzuki Samurai had it's flaws but it was REALLY good offroad even in stock form.
Toyota needs to cover down and remanufacture these to their specs. These are awesome vehs.
Are you under the impression Toyota built those? or is that just out loud wishful thinking
and also bring back the true original'' built like a tank'' FJ-40 Land Cruiser!
Toyota needs to bring over, to the US, some of their more base models. Such as what is sold over in Australia. They would sell well here to everyone that is tired of the plushed out offerings now.
For all this test you used the seatbelt to,do you think it help you out in any shape or form?
I would love to see the old Cherokee vs. the new Cherokee Trailhawk slip test!!!
I’d like to see my stock 89 Suburban run this.
If it's a 3/4 ton then it probably has a factory locker in the rear if it's a 1/2 ton then there is a good chance it has g80 code limited slip so you would do just fine if any of the above is true.
14 personality entertainment it is a 3/4 ton, but there’s no switch or lever or anything anywhere to activate a locker?
@@BYLRPhil It's a mechanical locker so no switch or lever👍, they use a Detroit locker, it engages when the rear slips. I have a 87 3/4ton on 33" Mudd terrains and it does great in deep mud and snow. I've even done a couple of rock trails and was impressed although 33" is to small for any serious rocks. The common axles was a 14 bolt rear with Detroit locker, and open Dana 44 front, 410 gears ,turbo 400 trans and 208 transfer case. Perfect family 4x4.
14 personality entertainment huh, I’ll have to crawl under there and see if I can find some codes and confirm this. I sure hope so! I’ve got a 350 with the 3 speed auto, Warn manual lockers up front. Who knows what all has been done to it over the years.
@@BYLRPhil There should be a white label on the glovebox door or in the center console it will have a bunch of codes on it , look for the code G80.
I think I gave the wrong info it's an eaton locker and not Detroit but just can't remember for sure. If all else fails you can pull the diff cover and have a looksy. Also there are two #'s on the edge of the ring gear that will give you the gear ratio.
Put two lockrights in and it would be nere unstoppabel.
General comment on slip test... I have a 4Runner limited, which is quite a bit different than all the other 4Runner models because it has a center diff and full time all wheel drive. It’s actually like the most mysterious AWD system out there! No one talks about it! When everyone reviews the 4Runner, they do locked diff, off road tests. I’m really curious about what this AWD system is actually doing ON ROAD in daily (winter snow/ice) driving. I know it’s a beast in the winter, but I think it would be neat to see the mighty 4Runner on your slip test, and other trucks/(real) SUVs for that matter. Toyota’s other cars don’t have a great AWD system. Does the 4Runner break the mould?
Please spend a little money on a small lift/suspension upgrade and some decent tyres. It doesn’t take much. The Zuk’s are great fun off road, looking forward to some adventures on the trails.
The 2019 Jimny 1.3 Liter version might go to Murica soon....
Very good test and also very good explanations!
use handbrake if the front is stuck so u can transfer power from back wheels to front, use the brake if the rear is stuck to transfer power to rear wheels
Except this is a 4x4 vehicle not an AWD vehicle, so it doesn't have the ability to bias power differently from front to rear. Front and rear are locked together and turn the same rate, so stopping rear wheels will also stop front wheels, and vice versa...
Great test. A rear air locker would take care of all the worry.
Suzuki needs to bring back the sidekick
Love these tests, would really enjoy seeing the the new 2019 hybrid RAV4, do this test, when it's made available for a review.
That would be fun to try my factory stock 2001 Jeep XJ Sport with the Dana 35 "Track-loc" rear axle ( factory option LSD with factory clutch pack) and see how it holds up.
I love that little truck.
It did well because it's a real 4x4, not like Toyotas and Hondas or Subarus.
time to do a gold mine hill chalenge!
so what have we learned?
If you put a wheel in between two rollers it spins
Suzuki, please bring the new Jimny to the USA and take my 💰!
Too bad they don't sell this gem in NA anymore
Is TFLoffroad going to do a review on some of the lesser known UTV’s, like the ODES ravager, or the Intimidator? And how they compare to the likes of the Can-am
I think the "slow-motion" view may have been a bit redundant in this case. ;) :D
in India its still produced under the name Maruti Suzuki Gypsy
Anyone seen the Suzuki Jimny? It’s the continuation of the Samurai, though it’s not sold in North America
You need more handbrake, pump it a bit, I got out of a 2 feet deep ditch that way with only one traction wheel, on a stock LWB geo tracker.
I want the old design back but with new interior I don't want this new Jimny it's nothing compared to the old Samurai!!!
I know this video is a few years old now, but are you able to find out what brand the front grill guard is from? I just got a Jimny, and would love to have something like that installed on mine.
It would be great if you would install lockers on the front and rear and then show what its truly capable of. Yes, the lockers might cost more than Suzi but who cares, all we care about is how awesome it is off road. Oh, you may as well put on a proper set of high quality off road tires if you really are going to test it off road, otherwise why bother. (Its a used vehicle so replacing the tires is completely fair because that is what we would do anyway.)
I agree, putting money into these Suzukis is totally worth it. For 5 grand, you could end up with an awesome trail rig that will fit on side by side trails. $2500 truck + 2 auto lockers self installed $600 + lift and shocks $600 + 31" tires and wheels $1000 + winch and winch bumper $500 =$5200 ball park maybe even less. Try to match the performance and road + trail ability any other way. You can't.
@@wvjon75 I agree, I think that it would embarrass just about anything else offload (except for a side by side, but the side by sides aren't street legal and are not good in bad weather or the winter so the Suzi would be the ultimate year-round off roader).
That's Gypsy❤️..We have in India with a Long body !
We also have Thar now to throw around.
samurai yay
I can't wait to see some real off-roading with this car
I wanna see this with the at4 or trail boss I wanna see how the newer trucks do
Can you fit lockers to this car?
I have the same problem with my samurai and open diffs. The left foot braking or hand brake trick will not work in situations like that. I think the brakes are just too weak.
Tommy, how does your Wrangler and your old Cherokee perform on these rollers?
.
I’d love you to do this with a Jeep Wrangler JK and a Toyota Tacoma. Hope it’s not asking for much. Just a Christmas wish list. 😝
William Todd Not necessarily. The Wrangler has brake lock differential so it’s not open diff. Tacoma has auto limited slip
the new jimny here in Europe have co2 very high for a 1.5 litre engine and the taxies its the same with a 1800 litre engine .
Take that little samurai to the gold mine hill and how you call it dare or something, i am pretty sure he can do it
Can you do this with a truck that had a limited slip in the rear
I would like to see how a Toyota Tacoma trd sport 4x4 would do. Or a 4x4 pickup truck with a limited slip rear end.
@@wildbill23c yes I realize if you had both rear wheels on the rollers with limited slip it would not go anywhere. I was curious how much better it would do or wouldn't do if you had one of the front wheels on rollers and one of the rear wheels on rollers. Also if it would do any better on the other roller tests they have done on the other vehicles.
I'd like to see Polaris make a street legal RZR. If motorcyles are allowed on our roads.......why not?
In the last test you didn't use the lock on the front wheels, it should've got out from that situation probably if you would lock the front wheels.
Those are locking hubs, not a diff lock. If either one was not locked, none of the front wheels would turn.
@@JeremyPetho I understand, but in the last test, the front wheels were on lock, didn't them?
One wheel was spinning which means both of them must have been locked.
@@JeremyPetho so, what is the difference when the wheels are locked and when they're not?
When the hub is unlocked, the wheel can spin freely on the axle. When it is locked the front hubs connect to the front differential.
Many 4x4s don't have this feature and the hubs are always locked in.
The benefit of being able to unlock them means that the front axle and driveshaft are not constantly turning with the front wheels when in 2WD.
This man put his seatbelt on
That is a cool little machine. Now it wouldnt be WORTH it, but in a fantasy world, one could add as locker to the back xD Mind you it would be worth more than the cost of the vehicle to do so, and may not even be feasible, but can you guys imagine?
As for the new Jimny, if they brought it to north america and added a rear locker, I would buy one in a second.
Weld
This is like a $3000usd truck in this condition, rear lockers cost about $150usd...how is it not worth it because it costs more than the truck???
You are right. I had never bought or installed one before and just heard from a friend it was damn expensive. But I hadnt looked lol.